Former Australia opener David Warner aligned himself with former teammate Usman Khawaja after captain Pat Cummins termed his claims on Sandpapergate "complete and utter nonsense".
"I was genuinely shocked this week when I found out that Usman admitted that he told Cam to be careful when using sandpaper," Cummins said, adding that Khawaja had been instrumental in helping the Australian squad turn around what he described as a sometimes ugly, win-at-all-costs culture.
"That's not the Usman that I know. It's not the Usman that I think has been part of a team that's helped rebuild the Australian cricket culture over the last eight years," he said. "And the one that would have stopped that from happening there and then."
Khawaja's claims in his autobiography
Khawaja blew open the 2018 sandpaper scandal—which saw Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft punished for a plot to tamper with the ball using sandpaper in Australia's Test against South Africa in Cape Town—during the release of his autobiography, Sabr, this week. The former opener claimed that all staff and players knew that the Australian team was using sandpaper to tamper with the ball. Smith, Warner, and Bancroft were banned after "Sandpapergate", with Cricket Australia asserting only that trio were privy to the plot.
Khawaja said he published his account of the episode in a bid to support the three players whom he believed had been made scapegoats for the team.
He has had public support from Warner, who responded on social media that the Cricket Australia investigation at the time was rushed and botched. Warner and Smith resumed their international careers in 2019 and remained key players for Australia. Warner retired in 2024, and Smith is still in the squad.
Cummins rejects Khawaja's claims
"When he says we all knew, if by that he means we knew sandpaper was going out on the field, he's 100% wrong. I've said that consistently for the last eight years. I did not know that was happening. He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to tamper with the ball using sandpaper. That's complete and utter nonsense," captain Cummins had said.
Warner stands by Khawaja
It was then that Warner came out in support of his fellow left-hander. Warner said the players who were in the team in 2018 will have different opinions.
"I still stick by Uzzy and what he's written in that book, because it is the truth, and I really, really support him," Warner told Fox Sports. "I actually feel for him at the moment. I actually feel that today, the captain threw Uzzy under the bus, and I'm very, very disappointed about that."
"At the end of the day, Pat's not going to agree with me, I'm not going to agree with him," Warner said. "He's obviously spoken about what he thinks about Uzzy's book, but I stand by Uzzy and his comments.
"For me it's about accepting the truth, and I just don't think this will rest."
"All three of us have paid a big price in this thing. I hadn't spoken about it in eight years, but at the end of the day, we've got to live with these consequences daily," Warner said. "We've been served a life punishment. When other people talk about [how] they've been affected by it, there's nothing worse for me, Steve and Cam, who have to walk out there every day and we cop abuse.
"Yes, we accepted it, but at the end of the day, my wife and I paid the greatest price. We lost a baby during that time. That's why it really hurts me the most until the truth is accepted."
